Persona N
by Quaternary
Summary: Nanako Dojima's first steps into Yasogami High are everything she wanted. A life like his. She gets exactly what she asks for when a power long forgotten awakens within her. Forever trapped on the other side of normal, can she win the future and hearts she's longed for since those golden years?
1. A Night Full of Changes

The living room was a mess. A dark green overcoat was thrown over the TV, all the pillows of the couch had been arranged in a technicolor house of plush, and empty glass bottles were overturned and scattered around the floor.

"The things I put up with from you, kid." I heard a gruff, low voice sigh. "How in the world did you get me to agree to this?"

"You know you love me, Dojima. 'Sides, I invited you to the actual party with the Investi-uh, my friends and you said no. So think of this as-_hic_-the before party!" Another voice said. This one was feminine, but uneven and excited.

"I've only been in my room for ten minutes. Geez." I said.

The ear-splitting energy surrounding the coffee table died as soon as I stepped off the stairs. Two pairs of eyes, one bloodshot, the other a little creased at the edges, gave me their undivided attention. Their owners stared at me, one open-mouthed and speechless, the other wearing a wry smile on his face.

I found my voice. "How did I let you talk me into this, Chie?"

"Do mine eyes deceive me?" The woman slammed her drink on the table, sloshing alchohol over her hand. Her dark green jacket lay haphazardly folded in her lap, exposing the three cracked and worn buttons otherwise masked by the flaps. She staggered to her feet, and the man sitting adjacent to her rose without a moment's hesitation.

"Whoa there, kid," Dad said. He held his hands wide, ready for any drunken missteps. "I'd rather not make a second trip to the hospital tonight."

She waggled a hand at him over her shoulder. "I'm fine, Dojima. Besides, tonight, it's all about Nanako!"

My face heated immediately. "You're being too nice," I said. "It's just Yasogami's black and gold."

"You just haven't seen yourself yet!" Chie flicked her cap back and tipped her head forward, allowing a red compact to slide into her open palm with a soft plop.

She closed the distance between the table and staircase in three strides, wrangling me in with a single arm. She popped the compact open and I saw my steadily reddening face staring back at me. Chie's face squeezed into the frame, her lopsided smile pressed into my cheek.

Her hair was still in the same brown bob, easily hidden under her uniform cap. It was cut a lot shorter and classier than I ever remembered seeing it. Soft lines angled her face, experiences of the force etched into each one.

I could barely see the collar of my outfit. The only bits of my face not blocked out by Chie's was the brown eye reflecting my embarrassment. My eye suddenly blinked. It's a good thing Chie was on cloud nine, since it startled me pretty badly.

"Lookit you, no responsibilities but school. Reminds me of the old days." Chie snapped the compact closed. "Trying to make me all depressed are you? Well, you totally managed it." She took a ring of my hair between her fingers. Her smile was genuine, but through the red fog in her eyes, I could see the heavy lids were also a bit sad.

"Is something wrong with my hair?" I asked.

"No, just a little surprised. You've been wearing the same adorable pigtails since I've known you, Nanako." She tapped me on the nose.

"Do you guys not like it?" I'm glad she was tipsy, otherwise she'd have noticed my voice sounded a lot more hurt as I spoke than I thought it would.

Chie stared at the ringlet in her fingers long enough for dad to gather a few bottles at his feet and take the roof off the pillow fortress. All while keeping one eye on his deputy. "We love it dummy! But me and Yukiko, we went on a major wardrobe overhaul when we were getting older. It's a right of passage or somethin'."

She tugged gently and I felt my hair come loose, followed by a breezy sweeping over my left shoulder. Chie held her compact up again, much further away, so I could see myself. I looked older, with a single plume of hair dangling from one side and long brown locks draped over my shoulder.

"That looks really nice Nanako. Very grown up." Dad said, pausing mid cleanup.

"I don't look like me anymore." I said.

"Nope! You look like a woman about to start school."

I opened my mouth to protest, but Chie's huge smile drained the words away. I nodded a bit, but turned away from my reflection, it had winked at me again, but I didn't want to think about any nervous twitches I was developing.

Dad took a seat on the couch, arms crossed. He'd been watching us wordlessly the entire time, probably not too sure on how to enter the conversation. "Don't you have a prior engagement tomorrow anyway, kid?"

Chie's face flushed. "Oh god, could you zip me to the inn? It's sooo after midnight. I'm a dead woman if you don't help me, Dojima!"

Dad shook his head, trying and failing to hide the smile on his face. "Not what I meant, but okay. You passed a few too many a few too many hours ago, anyway."

Dad corraled Chie, draping her jacket over her shoulders and steering her towards the door. He swung his own coat over one shoulder and shot me a look over the other, "Hey, Nanako, lock up and hit the hay after I'm gone, will you? As gone as she was, the kid had a point. Big day tomorrow for you."

I nodded in between trying to rub the red off my cheeks. Dad turned back to Chie, but she'd already wandered through the front door while we were talking.

"Dad! Wait! Can't I go to Chie's party tomorrow?" I shouted at his back.

"I already told you no, Nanako. They're a lot older than you and there'll definitely be alcohol." He looked annoyed, splitting between looking at me and keeping an eye on Chie.

"You know they won't give me any, dad! Don't you trust them? They're his friends, and they're my friends, too." I felt calm, but something ugly kicked in my chest.

A car blared from the side of the house. Then again. And about a dozen more times. "Nanako, the answer is no. I'm sorry." His voice was firm. He gave me one last pointed look before closing the door.

A minute later, I was back in my room. But it felt different. I felt different. Out of place.

Everything was pink and bright and cheery, the walls, the nightstand, my bed. I snatched my laptop up and turned on the webcam. The other me loomed sadly in the grainy image. More mature, less me. I held the undone pigtail up and groaned. Chie must have accidentally palmed the rubber band keeping it in place. I let it fall uselessly back onto my shoulder.

As tears welled in my eyes, my image's clear eyes winked at me. I leaped back, dropping my laptop on the floor. A loud crunch broke the silence of the room, and my alarm quickly chilled to ice cold apprehension.

"Oh no... dad paid an arm and a leg for this." A huge crack webbed its way across the screen, dividing it into two jagged halves. In spite of myself, my anger at my dad became anxiety. I gingerly lifted it from the ground and placed it on my wardrobe, between my textbooks and mirror.

I flopped on my bed. I could practically see everyone having fun without me tomorrow.

"They'll be at the Junes foodcourt," I said. "Clinking sodas together and laughing." I pulled a pillow over my head and tried to block out my own thoughts. But the scene became sharper and clearer in my head. I watched Yosuke and Teddie arguing over whose turn it was to buy everyone steak, Chie and Yukiko discussing things about the inn, and Kanji asking a ton of questions about Rise and Naoto's careers.

I stood directly in front of them. An unrecognizable stranger.


	2. Black And Gold

"..._Junes_..."

I rose. I'd definitely heard a voice.

"..._Laughing_..."

And now I knew for certain. It was my voice.

The room was saturated in this weird light. It turned everything a washed out shade of red, like drying blood. I shielded my eyes from the piercing light as I slid off my bed. Something small, silhoutted against the sudden illumination, darted through my field of vision. I tried hard to keep track of it,the form was on my floor, then it leaped to my bed, darted to my nightstand, and vaulted right toward me.

Tiny feet bounced off my face. I whirled and watched their owner land silently in front of the source of the light. I could see it clearly now-a tiny rabbit, as pearly white as the light that glowed behind it.

I held a hand out, "I'm not going to hurt you," I said. I took a few tentative steps forward. "You're fast, anyway. Couldn't force you to leave even if I wanted to."

A mature, womanly voice in the back of my head whispered something to me, so faintly that I couldn't be sure of what it was, only that it was there. An unpleasant memory nagged at the back of my head, but I shoved it back down. The rabbit watched me approach without so much as a head tilt.

"..._Junes_..."

I froze. A voice exactly like mine echoed through the room again. The rabbit started, curling defensively. "No," I said. "No, that wasn't my voice! It wasn't me!" It wasn't a lie, my voice wasn't as high and immature.

The rabbit looked behind itself, directly into the unearthly light. It darted, looking at me and the light, back and forth, a dozen times in the few seconds I must have been watching. Something panicky gripped me. The rabbit edged toward the light. At the same moment, I lunged for it and it slipped beyond the light, swallowed by the glow that was outlining it. The light washed over me, full force. I stumbled forward with the momentum of my dive, and suddenly I felt myself tumbling, head over heels, stomach spinning in circles.

"..._Laughing_..."

I don't know how long I fell, but after few heartbeats of speeding through blank white nothingness, I felt gravity take hold of me. I willed myself upright and floated. My feet found solid ground, and for a moment, I stood on and among more blank, white, nothing.

There was a tiny sound behind me. I spun around, and the white rabbit was there. But now, without the light only showing me the faintest aspects of its features, I saw every ruffle of fur, its beady pink eyes. What made me fumble were the unsettling frankenstein lines zigzagging its body. Our eyes connected, and something told me the rabbit hadn't looked like that before. It squealed at me and bolted in the other direction.

"Wait!" I shouted.

As soon as I took a step, enormous glinting monoliths erupted from all around me. My Yasogami uniform whipped in the gale as the rectangles boxed me in on every side. I saw myself in a million reflections, each confused and lost. They were mirrors, stretching higher into the ether than I'd ever be able to see.

A white path wound its way through the mirrors. I started down it, listening to the shrill cries of the rabbit echo down the silvery walls.

"What do you see?" A voice asked.

I knew immediately what it was talking about. I was watching my feet as I walked. I didn't want to look at the walls.

"Nothing."

"My love," it was a soft, delicate voice. Like just hearing me lie to it was going to break it in two. "Your wield your wit as a blade to slash away at bonds. Let me in."

To my side, a mirror simply disappeared. I hesitated. A small, childlike form stood just beyond it. The form gestured like it was giggling, then a few more pairs of darkened shapes, like legs, appeared. They encircled it protectively as the joy of the tiny form continued.

"That's... they're..."

The tiny whispering played again in my ears. I inched toward the outlines, and it became louder, more worried, more insistent. It was like I was being torn in two. I didn't want to hear what the voice was saying, but something small and frightened deep inside me screamed for me to run out and join the forms.

"I'm sorry, my love." The womanly voice sounded like it was just barely holding back tears, "I tried, I tried so very hard."

The world itself shook like it was about to tear itself apart. The rabbit screamed in the distance, and on every side of me there was heavy quaking and crashing. Too late, I realized what was going on.

"No! No please! I'm sorry!" My voice was panicked, high pitched. I ran flat out, as hard as my legs would carry me, but the mirrors remained impassable. The space was barely ten feet away, but the faster I ran, the quicker I went nowhere. "Please! Let me through!"

Another form appeared before me, the shadowy figure spread its arms wide, blocking me. I hated it. Everything about it. But it stretched its hands forward, cupping my face. I lashed out at it, but my arms passed through like I was trying to strike a breeze.

"Nanako..." Its voice was ambient, echoing out of its form, growing and spreading, filling the imploding void. "Nanako..."

"Don't! Don't say my name!" I struggled harder, but It's hold only became softer and gentler.

"Nanako..."

"You're can't! There's no way you're-!"

"Nanako!"

My eyes sagged open.

Slowly, I recognized the plush fabric of my bed covers on my back, and the morning air gusting over my face. Between me and the pink patterns of my ceiling, my dad frowned at me. He was mid-shave, still with lather on his chin and razor in hand.

"Hm... dad? Did you get Chie back home?" I asked. I shook the sleep out of my eyes and bounced to my feet.

"Safely and soundly. Last night." He shoved a boiled egg and my backpack into my hands.

My eyelids must have weighed a ton, just looking at him was a lot of effort. There was something missing from the equation that I still wasn't quite getting, judging from the way dad stared expectantly at me. I examined the bruise on the egg he'd given me, thinking it held some divine meaning, when there was a dark flash just at the edge of my vision.

It was my Yasogami uniform. That I was still wearing.

"Oh no!" Automatically, I peered around my dad and breathed a sigh of relief. I must have closed my laptop before going to bed, because it was snapped shut exactly where I left it.

"Oh yes. You overslept on your first day, Nanako!" Dad crossed his arms, being careful of the foamy razor, and sighed, "Not that I can complain. But since I'm late too, I can't give you a ride to Yasogami."

He had to shout it at my back, since I was already at the front door wrestling my shoes on. I yelled a good-bye and a promise to tell him how school went about a second before I let the door close behind me.

Housewives, joggers, other students and all sorts of pedestrians flew by as I darted past. I felt a smile spread across my face. It was like Yasoinaba had decided to come alive a few hours earlier just so I wouldn't miss out. I was barely able to enjoy it, since something about last night kept nagging at me. Every time I replayed last night in my head, flashes of light and nausea were the only things that jumped out at me.

By the time I'd finally gotten to the Samegawa Flood Plains, I couldn't even settle on what color the rabbit had been. Chatter from the other latecomers had started falling in around me only muddled my thoughts further. The plains were rainsoaked, with grass shooting through the cracks of the aging asphalt. I paused at the stone steps descending to the riverbank.

I kept coming back to the same image. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what it meant. "A white rabbit?"

"You_ do _remember Inaba! I knew it was you!" A voice said.

A girl my age bounded beside me. She wore the Yasogami uniform and had a puffy pink bow tied around her arm as black hair flowed all around her shoulders. She swept a single dark curl out of her eyes and gave me a wide grin.

"Inaba?"

She laughed. "Na-na, I do believe you don't recognize me." She looked me over, finger pressed into her cheek, "Though I wouldn't have recognized you if you weren't talking about Inaba. Liking the new style."

I forgot all about the rabbit and ran a finger through my hair, still flowing freely on one side. "Please, don't mention it." I tried for a reassuring smile, but then something dawned on me. "Wait, Na-na?"

She gave me a grin that made me embarrassed for forgetting. Inaba, the pink bow, 'Na-na'? "Looks like it's coming back to you." She gave me a playful tap on my shoulder, "'Bout time."

"Sayu Miike? From Ms. Kinomoto's elementary class?"

She gave me a puppy-dog pout. "How could you forget Sayu-Sayu, Na-na? Especially after the time we saved Inaba from eating my bow!"

In the middle of the growing crowd, I couldn't help but laugh, and Sayu joined me. "You took it off so we could feed him, I remember! He passed up the carrot and went straight for it!"

She nudged my shoulder and we started back down the Flood Plains. Sayu swung her backpack at her side as she spoke, "So how was Ayanagi Prep? Meet any cute boys there?"

"I don't know about that. I wasn't exactly looking for love in middle school. And besides, the whole time I was there, I was fighting my dad to come back here, to Yasogami."

Sayu waved at another student, and got a much more enthusiastic one in return. "You got your wish in the-oh!" Sayu pitched forward, very nearly faceplanting into the dewy grass.

I'd barely moved to help her when an ear-splitting blare cleaved the peaceful morning tones in two. Behind us, a limo as glittery green as an emerald idled impatiently. Polished to perfection, I saw my own shocked face watching me. I eased Sayu to her feet and guided us out of its path.

"My leggings are all muddy!" Sayu groaned.

"We were almost run over." I said.

"Priorities, Na-na."

We both stared daggers into the windows as the limo drfited through. Window after window of our own angry faces passed, it seemed like the car stretched from one end of the Flood Plains to the other. When the last one rolled through, my reflection stuck its tongue out and blew a raspberry at me.

Sayu picked up on it immediately. "Na-na, look at you. Ayanagi put a bit of fight in those bones."

My dream came back to me, stronger than ever. I saw flashes of mirrors, something beckoning me. Sayu tugged on my arm, and I turned to face her, the vestiges of a breakthrough already slipping away.

There was concern written all over her face. I gave her a grin. "Let's get to Yasogami. Nearly dying's quite the way to open up freshman year, huh?"


	3. Welcome to the Velvet Room

Yasogami High School was everything I imagined and then some. Rosy cherry blossom petals blanketed the front gate to Yasogami, where students milled about in the last few minutes before home room. The campus was enormous, and inside the classroom building, polished wooden decor waited peacefully to accept a new year of eager entrants.

"Hey, guess what!" Sayu beamed at me. She'd just returned from the throng of students in front of the message board and shook me out of my awe. "We're in 1-C! Sit next to me, okay?"

Hope fluttered in me. Barely ten minutes in and things were already exactly as I'd imagined them. Crystal morning sunlight filtered in through the windows as we wound our way through the ground floor halls, eventually finding the door labeled '1-C'.

Students were chatting away, some sitting on desks, others leaning against the lockers at the rear of the room. The wooden furnishings were well-worn, each desk shined smooth from years of use while sunlight streaked in through the freshly scrubbed windows.

Sayu grinned at me and motioned to the back corner of the room. "I know it's cliche, but let's nab those window seats! I already see two girls making eyes at them, Na-na!"

I shook my head. "Column three from the left, row three from the front," I said. I'd memorized it so many years back, It barely registered when I repeated it one more time. Sayu made no attempt to hide her confusion, which I answered with an apologetic smile, "You weren't the only one with your heart set on a certain seat."

A mischievous curl played at her lips. "Far be it from me to stand between matters of the heart. Well, you get your seat, and I'll get mine. Talk to you at lunch?"

We exchanged laughs, and a second later, I was in my new seat. Where his was just a floor above me. A couple of loud students trotted in, and on their heels was a woman balancing an enormous ledger in one arm and a stack of textbooks in the other. She inched toward the podium and let it all collapse on the old scrached stand with an audible exhale.

"I'm your homeroom teacher, Ms. Miura." On the chalkboard, she scribbled her name in almost illegible script. "I teach sociology, and this will be my first year at Yasogami." She faced the class and bowed. If I had to guess, this would be her first year teaching anywhere.

"_Yoshie_..." I heard someone behind me sigh.

"Don't get any ideas!" Another voice whispered.

Ms. Miura flipped open the ledger, and for a moment I thought it would spill a sea of paper all across the floor. She sighed before regarding the class again, "Now, about clubs-"

The door exploded into about a hundred pieces. Oaken shrapnel rained all over Ms. Miura and a bunch of the students at the front. A flash of white burst from growing dust cloud, speeding straight into the opposite wall before disappearing.

"Oww..." A voice groaned.

Chairs scratched and desks creaked as attention shifted to where the door had been, two dozen pairs of eyes watching the dust settle. A moutain of black and gold lay among the splintered remains of the door, sprawled over the threshold. Ms. Miura turned bright red and in a flash, had hoisted the canonball up.

It was some guy, and actually seeing him, it was easy to believe he wrecked the door. He towered over Ms. Miura and just about filled the doorway. I was a little relieved the door was the only thing he smashed.

"I may be the new teacher, but I don't enjoy all the tricks! First that club girl, then you? Just go back to your own class!" She jammed her finger into his chest as he spoke.

"This, uh, this is my class." His voice was a sturdy and low,

"What? Then he should pay for our door!" Someone shouted.

"Yeah! And send him back to the meathead factory after!" Another voice said.

Ms. Miura gave the class a sharp look, the glow in her eyes less than academic. I turned my attention to the student and could have sworn the guy shot more than a few glances at the wall. At the spot where the white flash had disappeared.

"Isn't anyone going to ask if he's okay? He did smash through a heavy door." I asked.

Ms. Miura gave the student another sharp look. Without so much as blinking, she shoved a finger at the empty seat next to me. Wordlessly, he trudged over and slouched as low as possible in his seat. I scooted over a few hops, if only to keep his shoulders from edging me out.

A bit redder in the face, Ms. Miura picked right back up where she left off.

"Thanks for that." He said under his breath.

I gave him a smile. "No problem."

He crossed his arms in front of him and mumbled, "Stupid rabbit. Only wanted to get it out of the school."

A rabbit? I tried to shake off the growing, stabbing pain in my head. Over and over again, a white light disappeared as quickly as it came fluttering through my memory.

Ms. Miura's words slowed. The other students in the class faded away. The room itself took on a bright blue hue, the furniture sliding closer and closer together like gravity was at war with itself.

I blinked. A few feet away, Ms. Miura's podium had been replaced by an electric blue table with a single light built into its side. Opposite it, a man with a nose as long as my arm sat pensively.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room," He said. His eyes were bulging and bloodshot, and his grin nothing short of menacing.

And yet, I replied, "Velvet Room? What happened to my class?"

The man took the slightest note of our surroundings. I let myself take my eyes off him for a few snatches of time as well. To my right, there was a huge glass pane with harsh glare, obscuring everything beyond in the same neon blue hue as the new plush carpeting and immaculately polished walls. Even the lamp on the table seemed to fill the entire room with a soulful marine glow.

"Interesting." He spoke slowly, measuredly, "It appears guests with exciting destinies are becoming less and less of a rarity among humanity." His voice was regal and mysterious, something about it took a tiny bit of the unease away.

"This room-who are you? Are you interrogating me?" I asked. I opened my mouth to ask him a barrage of questions, why am I here? How did I get here? Why is everything blue? When he simply chuckled.

"My name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance. And all I ask of you is to state your name, as there aren't many who can remember who they are when they see their souls."

For one horrible moment, I drew a blank. Then, clear as day, two words blazed in my mind. "Nanako Dojima."

"Marvelous." He breathed. Igor's smile spread wide, half-hidden beneath his nose. "Unfortunately, my role in your most hallowed time of reflection looks to be rather limited."

"Please, Mr. Igor, I don't know what's going on. I don't understand!"

With a practiced wave of his hand, he gave the face of the table a flourish. In the center, a shining white light had appeared. Igor raised both hands and the light followed suit, shrinking and solidifying until it had four edges and was far taller than it was long. A card?

"Very soon, that which you held most self-evident will require quite the bit of introspection on your part. Should your light hold true, it will reach many a darkened corner, and you may be able to forge a brighter reality." The shine faded, a new face on the card taking its place. Half red, half white with the silhouette of scales between it.

My thoughts felt even heavier than they had moments ago, when the world wasn't blue. "My light? Reach dark corners? "

Suddenly, light poured in from the window. It seemed to fill up the entire room, washing the color out of everything before me. I shouted uselessly at the void while Igor's form was swallowed by the emptiness.

"Until we meet again."

"Wait!" i shouted.

There was a flash of yellow, black and pink. Sayu adjusted the bow on her arm and shot a red hot blush over her shoulder before turning back to me. "Geez. What's up? You were completely spaced out all morning."

"Huh? I was?" I looked around, the only students still in the room were a group with Ms. Miura and a few at the door, all of whom were staring at me like I'd just screamed at the top of my lungs in the middle of class. Now it was my turn for my face to be bright red.

"Man. Come on, it's lunch. I'll treat you!" Sayu gave me a bubbly smile and I threw her one right back. "Na-na, is something wrong?" She asked.

"No, not really." We passed Ms. Miura chewing out the big guy and two girls. "It's just, it feels like I'm missing somethig important."

I shot one last look at the spot on the wall. I could have sworn it flickered for a moment.


	4. Smiles Unwavering

Sayu looked like she would burst into tears right then and there. People had been giving me curious looks since my outburst in class that morning, and I could feel intrusive stares all around us, from outside the school gate and within.

"What happened exactly?" I asked.

She ran her bow-less sleeve across the streaks on her face and attempted to talk through the tears, "Manabee and Hoggo inbited meeee! I habdo go!"

There was a quiver at the corner of my mouth. "Those girls Ms. Miura was yelling at? But, I invited you to my house after school to catch up."

"B-but!" She sniffled so loudly that the entire courtyard could hear it. "Manabi and Hoko invited me to the Hibino Bash! Rumor has it that everyone who went last year became the superstars of Yasogami!"

"I messaged my dad and told him and everything." My voice came out a lot softer than I was expecting it to.

Sayu clasped my hands in hers. "Na-na, pretty please! It's only one night. I'm super sorry and I'll apologize to Mr. Kenzo and everyone tomorrow! I need this! We're friends, right?"

"Yeah! Yeah, we're friends." I said as quickly as she'd finished.

She practically floated off the ground. "Great! You'll need to be in the parking lot in about two minutes. Here's my school ID-just obscure the face with your thumb or something. The club's student-led so I doubt they'll be too thorough. You see Ma-na or Koko anywhere?"

"Parking lot, two minutes, thumbs? Slow down, please! What was that last thing?"

Her eyes met mine. "Ma-na and Koko, you know, Manabi and Hoko. Have you seen them?"

I fought the twitch in my lower lip. "Ma-na... and Koko?" I shook my head and gave her an apologetic grin. "No, I don't think so."

She pivoted on her heel and placed a hand over her heart. "Then I swear to find them before the Hibino Back to School Bash!" She gave me one last wave as she took off, disappearing behind the doors to the school.

I stood rooted near the gate. For a thirty second eternity, students milled past as I held her ID in one hand and my phone in the Junes jingle played, and the tiny cell vibrated in my hand. I didn't have to look. I knew it was my dad's reply. It took everything in me check the message.

_Sure nanako. bring home your friend. id like to catch up a little myself_

There was a single wet drop on the screen. A few moments later, rain began sprinkling the grounds. I blinked hard, stuffed my phone into my pocket and ran.

At the rear of the school, there were two claustrophobic rows that stretched about half the length of campus. A handful cars stood, lonely and empty, at random, but after a quick check I saw two bodies leaning against one of the vehicles further down.

I approached, taking in their features. One was so broad and tall that if I weren't able to see the school colors, I'd have thought the girl opposite him had hired a bodyguard. The one twirling the keys around her fingers was easily taller than me, with short black hair and devilish red glasses that gave her a severe, dark look.

"Sayu Miike?" The girl asked. She glanced at a checklist that was safe from the rain inside the car. The big guy threw a look over his shoulder. The confused face of my seat neighbor greeted me.

Suddenly, this whole sham of an idea went nuclear. A horror film played in my mind. Him blurting out the truth, the girl reporting me to the principal, a new punishment with my real name on it and the quietest stare of disappointment my dad could muster.

"Sayu?" The guy asked. "Look like you just saw a ghost. And after class this morning, I probably know a thing or two about that."

A tiny tremble passed over me, but Sayu's smirking face from earlier appeared in my head. I didn't reply.

"Riveting. It's Ms. Takejo from class 2-E to you freshmen. Your warden for the next few hours, according to the principal. Get in." She slammed the door on any more conversation, and without a word, I slid into the backseat alongside my classmate. His sole attempt at conversation, a question about how she was liking being in her second year, was met with a stare so cold I was sure the windows frosted.

Inaba flew by in a blur. Before I knew it, we were beating a path through town I knew all too well when we turned down the Shopping District. Like a shot right through my heart, as Tatsumi Textiles and Marukyu Tofu flew past my window, I remembered.

_Ms. Takejo, ma'am? Can we stop at Junes?_ Two easy sentences. But dad's text felt heavier in my pocket the more I thought about it. By the time Ms. Takejo announced we'd arrived, I'd played out every possible scenario of somehow getting to the party while not technically sneaking around my dad.

We pulled off the road and the car shuddered to a stop. Everyone slid out, and as I moved to follow, there was a soft flop. At my heel, Sayu's student ID lay there among the dirt and gravel, beaming hugely at me.

"Miike!" A very impatient voice shouted.

I moved around my classmate to actually see where we were at. We were parked on dead grass, with drying pavement lined with sun-parched weeds stretching in both directions. Across the asphalt, the tops of rough stone waited.

"The Samegawa Flood Plains?" I asked.

Ms. Takejo raised an eyebrow. "Didn't Principal Isagawa give you the long version in his office?"

"Yes, of course! He did indeed do that!"

Her suspicious gaze lingered for a second longer until she turned with a smirk.. "Daimon, Sayu, you two take the riverbed. I'll work the gazebo at the far side. If you have any questions, submit an official inquiry tomorrow during my free period." She adjusted her glasses, making sure they glinted evilly in the sun.

She reached under her Yasogami blazer and produced two shiny objects. Ms. Takejo pushed a smudged and speckled knife into my hands and a black plastic bag into Daimon's.

Without another comment I started down the steps, Daimon following at a defeated trudge. The riverbed gleamed in the orange afternoon sunlight. Daimon crossed over to the dock of smooth stone and took stock of the depression we now stood in. The grass was glossy, if a bit trampled. Trash lay squeezed into every nook and cranny.

As soon as Ms. Takejo's footsteps died away, Daimon flopped leisurely on the dock and let out a huge sigh. Up close, he wasn't as rough around the edges as he seemed when he was busting through doors. Short, messy brown hair and a sturdy face.

"Sayu Miike, huh? I guess I never did introduce myself. I'm Daimon Niichi." He held a hand out, and right when I went to take it, jabbed a finger at me.

"Wait, okay! Yes, I may not be-"

"It's that rabb-ARGH!"

A white blur dashed past me, vaulting off Daimon's face. There was a loud, mechanical clattering. When everything stopped moving, Daimon was laid out on the dock, I could practically see the daze in his eyes. My laptop lay even more broken next to him and across the river, a pair of beady red eyes sized me up.

I chanced a careful step forward. The rabbit didn't budge, didn't even blink. Daimon's expression was pained, and he was silent. I couldn't really tell if he was breathing or not. Fear and curiosity mixed like dangerous chemicals in me, and before they could explode, I found myself at the edge of the dock.

The rabbit's ears perked and twitched. It plunged into the murk.

"Wait!" I shouted at it.

I kneeled to the green-tinged waters, face to face with my entire body reflected at me. I couldn't see anything, and the more I strained my eyes, the more washed out and unclear the depths became.

Then I stood. The other me, my reflection, rose gracefully to her full height. My heart beat a fevered plea to run into my ribcage. My fingers quavered. These past forty-eight hours suddenly fell into place. The dream, the rabbit, the limo window.

Before my eyes, I was shrinking. My hair became shorter, my uniform brightened and fused into a single cloth, and a brand new band wrapped around my free lock of hair. I was staring at me, eight years ago.

The real me.

Suddenly, a strong hand appeared and interlocked with mine. Then another, this one plush and blue, and soon, a whole crowd had gathered around me. Laughing, smiling, shadowy figures that I could never mistake for anything else in my life.

Big bro and his friends were leading her away. The fake me. Taking her to live my life.

"No! NOOO!"

One heartbeat, I was on my feet.

One heartbeat. I heard my name somewhere far away.

One heartbeat. Brilliant blue water rushed up to meet me.


End file.
